H&HM 100 Years War English v Medieval Korean

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Paul K
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H&HM 100 Years War English v Medieval Korean

Post by Paul K »

I suppose in wrestling terms this is very much a ‘catchweight’ contest between two very different armies – the longbow and heavy knights of the English v the mobile archers of the Korean cavalry and spear and firearms of their infantry.
IMG_1511.JPG
The terrain pieces were chosen and placed by Andre and his young helper while the 4 of us who were going to play the game looked on or when for drinks from the bar. It was with some surprise and a little trepidation that we found ourselves confronted with a battlefield which comprised of two very large central forests with only a two hex wide gap between them – very challenging terrain indeed!
The massed English Knights ready to advance
The massed English Knights ready to advance
The Korean Spears and bombards make ready for the English assault
The Korean Spears and bombards make ready for the English assault
Karl and I deployed our Korean army first having chosen our table edge, with our cavalry, the cream of our army, facing the largest open area on our right flank. Unfortunately, by deploying second, the English players, (Tony and Dave), placed their mounted knights on the opposite side of the table to our cavalry, which left a line of longbow facing our cavalry.
The Knights line up ready for the charge
The Knights line up ready for the charge
The Knights charge into contact with their Korean victims!
The Knights charge into contact with their Korean victims!
Opening moves saw the English knights advance and our infantry which started to form a defensive line against them. At this point Karl suggested advancing our cavalry against the longbow, but against Karl’s better judgement I insisted that our mounted archers needed to be switched across to the other flank to shoot away the English knights. This silly idea turned the game into something equivalent to ‘the bay of pigs’ and our cavalry suffered the same fate as the charge of the light brigade! The large woods left no space for the horse archers to deploy in order to shoot their opponents, the English knights soon smashed through the Korean infantry, before knocking back the Korean cavalry domino fashion – each recoiling unit disrupting the one behind!
Korean heavy cavalry prepare to charge the English longbow
Korean heavy cavalry prepare to charge the English longbow
By this stage of the game Karl was hardly impressed with my ‘superlative’ generalship and decided to use his three remaining Korean cavalry units to attack the English longbow on the other wing. He proceeded to quickly dispatch two longbow units and force the rest to pull back towards their centre. Meanwhile, the rest of the infantry from both sides were fighting it out in the large central wood and with the Korean left flank caving-in, the Korean infantry were soon disappearing into the casualty tray as quickly as their cavalry.
The Korean army is smashed back into the woodland
The Korean army is smashed back into the woodland
The English foot soldiers force the Korean infantry back through the woodland.
The English foot soldiers force the Korean infantry back through the woodland.
We struggled on for a few more game turns hoping for some luck with the dice in key combats but got no joy with these either. We were resigned to our defeat in less than an hour and a half, but in truth, when Tony advanced his knights and I chose to try switch wings with our horse archers to meet them, it was really game over for us after the third move. Karl could have smashed the English infantry with all the Korean cavalry if I hadn’t stolen most of them to fight a hopeless situation on our left. It might not have won the game for us, but it would have made it a much closer fight!
The final onslaught of the English knights smashes into the last Korean line of defence!
The final onslaught of the English knights smashes into the last Korean line of defence!
Game analysis
The two very large central woodland areas were the dominant feature of the game. The Korean (our) initial deployment was poor. My decision to switch the Korean cavalry from wing to wing was totally disastrous and Tony sealed our fate with two quick advances with his knights.
Kind regards
Paul

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Norm
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Re: H&HM 100 Years War English v Medieval Korean

Post by Norm »

If I remember correctly, the last time these two armies met, it was woodland that helped decide the issue.

The 4 base units look good when the clash gets going - a visual feast.
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Paul K
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Re: H&HM 100 Years War English v Medieval Korean

Post by Paul K »

The last time the Koreans hit the table in a club game was against a War of The Roses Yorkist army with plenty of mounted men-at-arms. However, the terrain was much more open and Tony used the Korean cavalry to shoot to death the Yorkist cavalry before dealing with the infantry. In this game by losing the di roll and deploying second our Korean cavalry were in the wrong place and I made a complete hash of trying to feed them into a position where there wasn't sufficient room to deploy. This deprived Karl of a good oportunity to use the cavalry to out-flank and potentially destroy the English longbiow. The English knights could then, in theory, have been dealt with later in the game!
Kind regards
Paul

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